St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

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tubalex
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St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by tubalex »

Alexander Lapins, DM
Eastman Musical Instruments Artist
University of Tennessee Faculty
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Faculty
Quintasonic Brass
http://www.music.utk.edu/faculty/lapins.php
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KevinMadden
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by KevinMadden »

Please note:
 The St. Louis Symphony tunes to A=442


...don't see that everyday.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Shostytuben »

KevinMadden wrote:Please note:
 The St. Louis Symphony tunes to A=442


...don't see that everyday.

There are bigger name orchestras in the us that tunes higher then that.
Ken Herrick
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Ken Herrick »

One might wonder if:

Panel "play an A".

A played by candidate as first item on audition.

Panel "Leave now, you are flat. That is A 441 standard".
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Mark »

KevinMadden wrote:Please note:
 The St. Louis Symphony tunes to A=442

...don't see that everyday.
Well, some tubas may not be tunable to A = 442. If the person playing one of those tubas made it to the section playing part of the audition, there could be a problem.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Ken Herrick »

Mark wrote:
KevinMadden wrote:Please note:
 The St. Louis Symphony tunes to A=442

...don't see that everyday.
Well, some tubas may not be tunable to A = 442. If the person playing one of those tubas made it to the section playing part of the audition, there could be a problem.
Easy to fix: just borrow the hacksaw the first trumpet player keeps in his locker. If it was good enough for AJ, it's good enough for anybody.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Tuboxchef »

Mark wrote:
KevinMadden wrote:Please note:
 The St. Louis Symphony tunes to A=442

...don't see that everyday.
Well, some tubas may not be tunable to A = 442. If the person playing one of those tubas made it to the section playing part of the audition, there could be a problem.
Thank God they tell us this 4 months before the audition.
Derek Fenstermacher

I own tubas.
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Watchman
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Watchman »

Don't overthink the 442 thing. I'm sure the panel may think they can hear the grass grow, but A=442 is not the reason you are going to be eliminated.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by windshieldbug »

Actually, if you’re able to play 110 or 220, you’re simply doing the equivalent of “stretch” piano tuning with the orchestra... :shock:
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Watchman
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Watchman »

bloke wrote:For the three-or-so qualified applicants who may show up, "crime/taxes" are issues, in my view.
I'm not saying you are wrong, because urban life is not for everybody. However, why the assumption that the finalists are going to be conservative rural people like yourself who don't like the city? It's pretty clearly established that if you want a "big tuba job," said job will be in a major city, so most everyone should know this going in. Another thing....the person who wins could be a "millenial" and most of them live in cities already. For this person, "crime and taxes" may be something they already live with, or something are non-issues in their lives.

I have spent many years living in major city, that is in the top 10 for population in the US, in a neighborhood that some of my family members who live "in the boonies" consider "scary," and have no plans to vacate in the near future. I've never been the victim of a crime, and while I pay higher taxes, I do get to enjoy the benefits of living in a city (like not having to drive 2 hours to go to the grocery/doctor/etc, having an amazing symphony orchestra 15 minutes away, and a whole lot of other things I like, that I won't list because it's tedious).

What about schools? I mean, everyone knows urban schools are just the worst and you should never ever ever have a family in the city. Believe it or not, my daughter attends a PUBLIC (gasp!) elementary school in our neighborhood, and she loves her school, teachers, and friends. Based on the homework she brings home, I also think she's getting a darn good education. Parents at our school are very involved, which is the real key no matter where you live.

Again, this is a personal preference thing, but in my view, the fact that this is in a major city (even if that city is St. Louis) shouldn't be a deterrent. I would be more worried about the orchestra going under, because that sort of thing seems to happen all the time.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Mike C855B »

bloke wrote:... For the three-or-so qualified applicants who may show up, "crime/taxes" are issues, in my view.
SLSO is my "local" symphony, if 100 miles away counts. Didn't realize they were looking for someone, but then, I'm not looking for a situation anyway, and haven't had the chops for that level of playing in decades.

While IMO the taxes aren't that bad once you exclude the unusual 1% city income tax, the downtown crime is just nuts. City leaders are always in denial about it. It wasn't too long ago I was unloading my truck for a holiday event at Union Station, only to see on the TV news that evening that somebody was mugged a few yards from where I was, while I was there. Didn't see or hear a thing. Scary. To heck with a hard case for the horn, what you need is a bulletproof case for you.
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Watchman
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Watchman »

bloke wrote::arrow: Getting down to the nitty-gritty here...

To me, possibly the absolute best tuba job in the USA is the Dallas Symphony job, when gross pay, cost of living, level of taxation, quality of public schools, local amenities (for those who find such things of interest), the level of individual liberty, opportunities to easily make additional music-related income, availability of easily-commutable places to live where robberies and shootings are rare, and (sure) level of artistry are all taken into account...

...but that position is filled, isn't it? :|
I thought you would have said Indianapolis. That one is also filled. Plus, it gets cold there. My top 5 choices would be:

1. Atlanta
2. LA
3. Colorado
4. San Fran
5. Portland

Though just saying this feels ridiculous because if I ever live in any of those places, it won't be to take a tuba job. Maybe in an alternate reality.
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bisontuba
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by bisontuba »

Hi-
Any orchestra job where, as a tuba player, you can make your living playing tuba is a GREAT JOB.... in whatever city, USA.....
Mark
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Kory101 »

bisontuba wrote:Hi-
Any orchestra job where, as a tuba player, you can make your living playing tuba is a GREAT JOB.... in whatever city, USA.....
Mark
Ok, so not an orchestra but I play in the Royal Canadian Air Force Band in Winnipeg, MB. Full time. Salaried, benefits for me and my family. Pension. The whole nine yards. Some stats on Winnipeg;

Has been the murder capital of Canada 20 times since 1981
The highest rates of robbery according to a 2016 census
The second highest rates of sexual assault according to the same census
I could go on...

And yet, my family and I are the happiest we've been in any city that we've lived in. Sure, that may be due to the fact that I am very lucky to have one of the best jobs in Canada playing the tuba professionally. I don't believe this to be the case.

When we first found out we were moving from Victoria BC (if you've never been to Victoria, Google it. It's a beautiful city) to Winnipeg, people responded with "Oh boy, Winnipeg. Mosquitos and snow! Have fun!" We quickly found out that almost none of the people who made these comments have ever been to this city. Not even passed through it. We've since learned that in addition to the crime, Winnipeg has;

Great food
Great arts scene
Great culture and festivals all year round
Great people
Affordable housing
I could go on...

We firmly believe that you can be happy (or miserable) anywhere. Even in a city that's "dangerous".

I can't speak to cities in the USA but just wanted to share my thoughts.
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bisontuba
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by bisontuba »

Hi-
I should have added military bands too...any playing gig where, as a tuba player, you can make your living playing tuba is a GREAT JOB....in whatever city, period...
Mark
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Mudman »

Kory101 wrote: Ok, so not an orchestra but I play in the Royal Canadian Air Force Band in Winnipeg, MB. Full time. Salaried, benefits for me and my family. Pension. The whole nine yards. Some stats on Winnipeg;

. . .

We firmly believe that you can be happy (or miserable) anywhere. Even in a city that's "dangerous".

I can't speak to cities in the USA but just wanted to share my thoughts.
I grew up in Winterpeg, did some playing in the Air Command Band, and escaped the cold! The mocumentary by Guy Maddin "My Winnipeg" sums it up for me.

Crime in a mid-sized Canadian city doesn't begin to come close to some of the major US cities. Looking over one's shoulder is a constant reality in some parts of the US. Crime maps provided in some local newspapers can be insane.

As an aside, I know somebody who auditioned for the Winnipeg Symphony some years ago. The audition was in January. The person flew in to town, got to the hotel, and then decided not to leave the hotel room for the audition. 30 below can be a literal buzz killer :)

But you are right, happiness is a state of mind. My dream job might be somebody else's nightmare. It is a compromise between location, prestige, and salary. Hard to nail all three. For me, teaching at UNT would never be worth it even though the salary and prestige would be tops.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by ckalaher1 »

St. Louis:

-considerably less traffic issues than other comparable metro areas.
-cost of living is pretty cheap.
-GREAT symphony.
-pretty decent arts scene in general.
-downtown is coming back.
-many fine suburban communities to reside in that are relatively close to Powell Hall.
-very large, diverse metro area of nearly 3 Million people.
-easily the "biggest small town" in America (for better or worse).

The city used to be 900K and is now only 300K. That happened because of A) the decline of railway transportation (St. Louis was arguably THE biggest railway hub in the United States), and B) the decline of the manufacturing sector. The Mafia Wars of the 80's gave way to the Gang Wars of the 90's which gave way to the abject poverty that exists in the hollowed-out, formerly industrial areas of the city today.

So yes there is a crime problem, but what city doesn't have a crime problem? I know St. Louis is always the "league leader" in crime statistics, but as a local I think it's somewhat misleading. While there is incidental crime throughout the city (just like any other city), the worst of it is in North City and across the river in ESL, though I HIGHLY doubt the winner of the audition will be settling down on Natural Bridge Road or St. Clair Avenue. I've been to hundreds of concerts/hockey games/etc, worked parking lot security on overnights through college, and I've never felt unsafe. Next to Busch Stadium and the Enterprise Center, Grand Center-where Powell Hall is located-is easily the most policed area in the city. It's actually a lot nicer than it used to be. If you want proof, watch John Carpenter's "Escape From New York". The vast majority of the exteriors were shot here 37 years ago, some of them in Grand Center.

Avery Fisher being a couple of miles from pre-Giuliani-Disneyfied-42nd St. didn't keep Warren Deck from winning the NYP job.

Anyhow, good luck to all of those auditioning. Big shoes to fill. I'm just saying don't worry about getting fitted for a flak jacket.
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Three Valves »

Fred Sanford left St Louis and moved to Watts.

That tells me everything I need to know!!
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by Carnival of Venice »

I won’t be taking the audition, but a quick question that popped into my mind...

Unless I’m making it up, I believe I saw or heard somewhere that Mr. Sanders has two Hirsbrunners, one of which is provided to him by the orchestra. Is this similar to Boston’s Nirschl, and Chicago’s York? In other words, would the winner of this audition have to utilize the orchestras Hirsbrunner?
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Re: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Post by ZMan »

Anyone advance over the last two days?
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